The sticky notes at the front of the page
for my 3 MPs (no, not my MP3s...)
Blogroll has moved to a
new page. It was just too huge (close to 1000 blogs in Bloglines) and helps the page load time tremendously. Blogrolling.com just sucks, and Bloglines has too much. Oh, and I have updated Blogrolling.
Have a nice day!
Wednesday, May 26
Hello
I'm currently visiting in Columbus, having a good time.
My next entry will be from Cinci!
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/26/2004 09:20:00 PM 
0 comments
Friday, May 21
Slow now, and for awhile.
I will be driving to Ohio this weekend and spending some time with family and friends. Which explains why I seem to be hot, then cold. I may get to make a few entries in the meantime, but nothing heavy until I get back.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/21/2004 02:06:00 PM
0 comments
Monday, May 17
Nick Berg's Killing: 50 Fishy Circumstances, Contradictory Claims, and Videotape Anomalies
From:
Nick Berg's Killing: 50 Fishy Circumstances, Contradictory Claims, and Videotape Anomalies || kuro5hin.org:
Nick Berg's Killing: 50 Fishy Circumstances, Contradictory Claims, and Videotape Anomalies (Politics)
By decon recon
Sun May 16th, 2004 at 05:36:52 PM EST
The video tape and circumstances of the killing of Nick Berg seem fishier and fishier.
This article summarizes and lists 50 anomalies around Berg and his death.
I'm blogging this because I find it absolutely astounding. It sounds like somebody has done their homework. I myself have no current thought on whether this is true or not. I haven't seen the video. I really don't know what to think about it. There certainly do seem to be discrepencies that are going to be, at best, hard to explain.
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/17/2004 04:41:00 PM
0 comments
Saturday, May 15
Backing up the blog...
I got a good working template for backing up the blog. Too bad it's only good for just shy of 3 years. So, if you got weirdness, or a main page with EVERYTHING on it, I'm sorry. And now I'm being called to bed. Good night!
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/15/2004 11:33:00 PM
0 comments
Comments modified!
I have modified the commenting system to give you dynamic updating. Mozilla is handling it quite well, but IE handles it worth crap. :( I'm leaving it this way (I still have the preview button for IE users). Of course, with something like 17 comments right now (I just checked my backup) it's not like everybody and their brother is using it.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/15/2004 10:57:00 PM
0 comments
The New Yorker
Via
John Robb's Weblog from:
The New YorkerThe roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld's decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of elite combat units, and hurt America's prospects in the war on terror.
If this is true (and I certainly don't know, but I have a feeling we're going to find out, one way or another), then this is big stuff. If true, then Mr. Secretary is going to find himself in
big doo-doo and is liable to lead to regime change right here in the ole US of A. Even if the truth isn't found out until after the election and Bush is elected King, er, President again (or for the first time as some people see it...) The soldiers that have been charged have kept repeating that they were only following orders. I don't know what I would do in their shoes. To me, they would be obviously illegal orders, but at the same time, I can also see myself getting caught up in it and going along. Being short of manpower and training, I might not even know at that age that they
were illegal, and gone along with it. Hell, I might not even have just cared! Get me out of this damn hell hole! <shrug>
I'm just a stupid civilian half a world away, ashamed of what happened at that prison, wondering if the rest of the prisons outside (and inside?) the US are operating in the same circumstances, and wondering if and when I get to be ashamed for them. The people that call the Nick Berg beheading as truly gruesome (I agree with that part) and then try to downplay what happened at Abu Ghraib as insignificant, that's where they are dead wrong. What happened at the prison is
not insignificant, even in the light of Nick Berg. Somebody decided to one up the US. Although I really believe that Abu Ghraib was an excuse for the beheading, not the cause. How many others have been beheaded? A few. Not on a daily basis, but it's not like this hasn't happened before.
I find it absolutely idiotic that Mr. Rumsfeld is furious because of digital cameras, and the soldiers that were sending them
illegally (his term) before they (the Pentagon) got them. Welcome to the 21
st century Mr. Secretary, where information wants to be instantaneous. It appears more likely that you've been caught with your pants down. And if the New Yorker article is true, having the photos leaked is the least of your problems. Obviously, censorship during wartime is now a thing of the past. Something that the planners for the next (major?) war are going to have to come to grips with.
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/15/2004 10:54:00 PM
0 comments
And now for something completely stupid...
Last night, I started wondering where my cell phone went to. I had changed shorts, and then it hit me, The_Rose had picked my old shorts up and done laundry, without checking pockets. I find the shorts, but no cell phone. I decide to keep digging in the washer, and found it. Dead as a door nail. I pulled it apart as much as I could, front face plate, back face plate, battery, sim card and let it dry overnight. It still works, now that it's mostly dry. I had no battery left (I wonder why?), and got it charged, although after charging it was quite hot, something I've never seen before. Probably water related. At least the heat helped dry it out. Or, something to do with the battery. Who knows. It's been working fine now.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/15/2004 05:10:00 PM
0 comments
Minor blog template adjustments - and a button!
I've made some more template adjustments. I have also created a button for this blog:
Hope you enjoy it!
Next, I'll probably be putting in the dynamic update for comment entry. w00t!
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/15/2004 04:22:00 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, May 12
Abstinence training
Hattrick was in scouts tonight, and we got to watch
"Sex, Lies and the Truth", a truly horrid video. I had to marvel and some of the crap they were trying to pass off as facts. I see that the first site listed when you google it is
this review, which does a decent job of debunking it from what I've skimmed.
I was amazed at the two 11 year olds talking about using a condom and a diaphram together. Gee, if they had
real and
proper sex education, maybe they wouldn't have sounded like such dorks? The review talks about the racial sterotypes that this film brings up, of which I really only noticed the one, the black single mother who's boyfriend was in jail. Miles McPherson who acts as a teacher in the film, spotlighted as a former NFL player is now a preacher (should I be surprised?) in California. He talks about the 20 years of safe sex teaching that's been going on. Valid for the time it was played, but that certainly is
not valid for the time it was made, 1993. Safe sex wasn't started to be discussed until the 80's. I certainly wasn't getting taught safe sex back in '73, and I
know, I was in sex education at the time. I wonder what happened to the commandment about not telling lies?
20 years ago, there were 5 STDs, and today there are 20!
Wrong! There's only been one new addition, HIV.
I knew more than 5 STDs, and that was
their 20 years ago!
I love the PHD doctor and author (no, not an MD doctor, a PHD doctor!) talking about how 1 out of every 5 American's has an STD. Maybe, if you include Herpes Simplex I (cold sores) transmitted in anyway possible, but that takes the sex out of sexually transmitted, so you really can't call it an STD then, can you Doctor?
And then you've got the cute Kirk Camerone and the cute Chelsea Noble talking about their marriage. I checked, and they are still married. Damn it! :-P I love this part from the review:
One interesting aspect of this video, which purports to teach abstinence, is the reliance on sexual imagery to make the film appealing. The narrators are Kirk Cameron and Chelsea Noble, both widely regarded as teen "heart throbs," who appear in skimpy shorts and discuss abstinence while giving viewers the knowledge that they are married and sexually active. When discussion about sexual images in the media is introduced, the video launches into a fast-paced montage of ads showing sexy women in alcohol and fashion advertisements. Certainly, the use of attractive, sexy role models throughout the film and the advertising images makes the film more appealing than other abstinence-only films. However, the juxtaposition of sexual content with an abstinence message is a tactic for enticing and engaging viewers.
That, by itself says a lot.
Then there was the inaneness about having a secondary virginity. WTF? Sorry, there is no such thing.
I'd go on, but I tire, and I didn't get to write the notes that I wanted to while this was going on, otherwise I'm sure I'd have even more doozies to write about.
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/12/2004 08:48:00 PM
0 comments
Tuesday, May 11
Archival: Binary Powers of 10
I scarfed this table from
here
Binary Powers of 10| . | Bytes | Bits | . | Deviation from 10^x |
1 bit =
1 byte =
1 kilobyte =
1 megabyte =
1 gigabyte =
1 terabyte =
1 petabyte =
1 exabyte =
1 zettabyte =
1 yottabyte =
1 ?1byte =
1 ?2byte =
1 ?3byte = | .125 byte. =
1 byte. =
1,024 bytes =
1,048,576 bytes =
1,073,741,824 bytes =
1,099,511,627,776 bytes =
1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes =
1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes =
1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes =
1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes =
1,237,940,039,285,380,274,899,124,224 bytes =
1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376 bytes =
1,298,074,214,633,706,907,132,624,082,305,024 bytes = | 1 bit.
8 bits
8,192 bits
8,388,608 bits
8,589,934,592 bits
8,796,093,022,208 bits
9,007,199,254,740,992 bits
9,223,372,036,854,775,808 bits
9,444,732,965,739,290,427,392 bits
9,671,406,556,917,033,397,649,408 bits
9,903,520,314,283,042,199,192,993,792 bits
10,141,204,801,825,835,211,973,625,643,008 bits
10,384,593,717,069,655,257,060,992,658,440,192 bits | .
x
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
27
30
33 | .
.
24
48,576
73,741,824
99,511,627,776
125,899,906,842,624
152,921,504,606,846,976
180,591,620,717,411,303,424
208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176
237,940,039,285,380,274,899,124,224
267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376
298,074,214,633,706,907,132,624,082,305,024 |
Enjoy!
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/11/2004 10:33:00 PM
0 comments
Sparx
I just love how you lie.
You're dad's phone number
A wireless number (629-21-81xx)
The above two were called on Friday, 5/7.
272-63-68xx (Dairy Queen) This one called I believe on Thursday.
226-42-70xx (Unknown)
All these numbers were called on your mom's phone
after she lost it. Yeah, you never had it. Sad.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/11/2004 10:15:00 PM
0 comments
Blah.
Had a nice going away meal with some of The_Rose's former workers.
I'm still in a bad mood.
It wasn't helped by either Sparx or hattrick trying to stick their nose where it didn't belong during a phone call. There's something that really upsets me when I get interrupted by a phone call. Irrational? Probably, but it doesn't set my mood for the rest of day to anything any better. By the time hattrick tried it, I was ready to beat somebody's ass.
Then on the way to the dinner, The_Rose decides we have to listen to Hannity's inane radio broadcast, where a senator decides to treat it like it's no big deal. I'm over sensitive at this point, because a) I really didn't want to hear it. b) the senators attitude truly sucked.
I don't care, Mr. Senator, that trying to compare what happened as being a piece of cake or a walk in the park compared to Saddam is totally useless. It should not have happened. Period!
It's upsetting enough to me that it happened. Americans are supposed to be better than that! Or do you not understand that, Mr. Senator! It's obvious that you don't.
Mr. Rummsfeld has said he is taking full responsibility. Good. When the photos and videos start showing that what has been shown so far is quite mild, then I fully suggest that you, by taking full responsibility and resign. If you do not resign, then Mr. President should fire you. Period. And if it's as truly bad as your are preparing us for, Mr. Secretary, maybe it's time for a regime change here at home, and make sure that Mr. Bush isn't elected for the first time.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/11/2004 09:21:00 PM
0 comments
Harbor Hills, Ohio Detailed Profile
Found on
Harbor Hills, Ohio Detailed Profile - travel and real estate info, jobs, hotels, hospitals, weather, schools, crime, ...
One correction. The zip code for Harbor Hills is 43025, not 43076.
This is where I grew up. From 2nd (3rd?) grade till I graduated Lakewood High School. According to
this, there are 10 houses with a value of $40,000 to $49,999. That must be the rate for taxes, only. I can't think of a house that would sell for under $100K when I left, and that was 28 years ago! Of course, during that time, because the EPA cracked down and said no more new septic tanks, there was a building moratorium until they finally got a sewer system in place. I really dispute the numbers of new houses, especially the '70s and '80s. That's when the building moratorium was on!
A little history is in order. Harbor Hills was a playground for the rich. The original houses weren't much more than summer cottages. The whole Buckeye Lake region was pretty much a playground, but people started moving in and actually staying during the winters. The older homes weren't too bad (our last house was a 4 bedroom/2 bathroom A frame) and pretty much had all the amenities of the time. Except for one thing, which was any kind of insulation! The gas bill for heating the house was tremendous (and we were already paying a big rent!) but we managed to afford it somehow.
It seems, from what I'm reading that Avondale, another subdivision due east of Harbor Hills is probably included in that (and why they put 43076 as the zip code!)
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/11/2004 03:22:00 PM
0 comments
Monday, May 10
Radio.Blog.Club
Thanks to
savedelete™.
Radio.Blog.Club is the first stand-alone player to let you stream your favorite songs from your own website.
It also lets you listen to hundreds of searchable mp3s without the need for media applications. Great for people at work whose IT departments have imposed restrictions on what applications can be run (or installed) on their machines.
Since it's not downloading mp3s (and hence users aren't easily "capturing" or saving information), it raises some questions about whether the music is subject to the same copyright-related restrictions as radio broadcasting or p2p applications. It'll be interesting to see if the RIAA watchdogs end up trying to shut it down.
This is quite an interesting question. Might do something similar with bytehead.org.
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/10/2004 11:38:00 PM
0 comments
Dynamic text editing in comments (and pages)
From:
Dynamic text editingA lot of people have a script installed in their blog which allows visitors to preview their html-based comments as they type. Here's how it's done:Put this in your head tags:
<script type='text/javascript' LANGUAGE='Javascript'>
<!--
function ReloadTextDiv()
{
var NewText = document.getElementById('DynamicText').value;
var DivElement = document.getElementById('TextDisplay');
DivElement.innerHTML = NewText;
}
//-->
</script>
Put this on your page where you want the preview to be displayed:
<span id='TextDisplay'></span>
Inside the textarea tag (where you input text) add these two attributes:
id='DynamicText' onKeyUp='ReloadTextDiv();'
... in other words, your textarea tag may look something like this:
<textarea name='text' rows='8' cols='30' id='DynamicText' onKeyUp='ReloadTextDiv();'></textarea>
Using this script, I assembled this javascript-based HTML editor which lets you see your html output as you type.
I hope the code cheat works!
Here's the code from the editor
<html>
<head>
<title>HTML editor: realtime previewing</title>
<script type="text/javascript" LANGUAGE="Javascript">
<!--
function ReloadTextDiv()
{
var NewText = document.getElementById("DynamicText").value;
var DivElement = document.getElementById("TextDisplay");
DivElement.innerHTML = NewText;
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<body>
<h3>HTML editor: realtime previewing</h3>
type some html in the box below, and see it appear below.<br>
<textarea name="text" rows="10" cols="80" id="DynamicText" onKeyUp="ReloadTextDiv();"></textarea>
<br><br>
<span id="TextDisplay"></span>
</body>
</html>
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/10/2004 11:29:00 PM
0 comments
CSS to put a graphic in for a <li> element
From:
:
#content ul li {
padding: 0 0 4px 17px;
line-height: 1.3em;
background: url(../images/li_bull.gif) no-repeat 0 2px;
}
I already downloaded the gif. I might have to play with the graphic, I'd like to make it transparent if it isn't, and probably make it darker. And then make a light one for dark backgrounds. :-P
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/10/2004 11:11:00 PM
0 comments
Update notes/plans
Blogger has some new stuff that I'll probably be putting in this already long blog. I'll have my profile (created via Blogger), and who knows what else. I don't like how they handle comments, so I'm staying with
blockkomment what I have. Besides, I can't seem to get comments on old posts. Then again, I probably could have played more with it to figure that out. Oh well. I'm not using it, so Bryan, drop it.
Saw a template that allowed you to put white text on top of a graphic. Similar to what's done on
Scripting news, but not done via pure graphic. I think it's <div> with a background (the image), and then forcing the text to be white. Looked cool (I probably should put a link to the
preview)
Wow, I've just done I don't know how many BlogThis! entries while in the middle of editing this. Interesting. Oh well. Time for bed anyway. What I had on my mind had best wait.
UPDATE - Blogger now keeps the time
you started the blog instead of the old behavio(u)r of using the time that you actually saved it. Interesting. And boy, do I have some HTML to clean up before I get to bed. Sheesh! I miss the Save/non-publish option, cause I've got a bunch of edits to do. Grrrrrrr.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/10/2004 09:38:00 PM
0 comments
Bizarre...
I hit this
site today, since it's suppose to give you local feeds to see. I tried adding mine before I understood that I had no feed for it. I finally got both an Atom feed and an RSS feed up and running, and then they take any new applications. Not too surprising, since it seemed to be a human job, not an automated job. I just thought I'd try again, and now they can't even connect to their DB server.
Mod_python error: "PythonHandler mod_python.publisher"
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.3/site-packages/mod_python/apache.py", line 299, in HandlerDispatch
result = object(req)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.3/site-packages/mod_python/publisher.py", line 98, in handler
path=[path])
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.3/site-packages/mod_python/apache.py", line 457, in import_module
module = imp.load_module(mname, f, p, d)
File "/home/localfeeds/htdocs/index.py", line 2, in ?
import lfsql
File "lfsql.py", line 2, in ?
connection=PgSQL.connect(database='localfeeds', host='deltron',user='ross')
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.3/site-packages/pyPgSQL/PgSQL.py", line 2211, in connect
return Connection(connInfo, client_encoding, unicode_results)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.3/site-packages/pyPgSQL/PgSQL.py", line 2331, in __init__
raise DatabaseError, m
DatabaseError: could not connect to server: No route to host
Is the server running on host "deltron" and accepting
TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
Oopsie! Same thing when I just try the www.* URL. Different.
C:\>ping deltron.localfeeds.com
Pinging deltron.localfeeds.com [66.79.191.210] with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 66.79.191.210:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
I guess that answers that. There is supposed to be a deltron.localfeeds.com, but it's gone down. OK, I'll try again tomorrow...
Relevant Link
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/10/2004 08:58:00 PM
0 comments
What a day, what a weekend.
Well The_Rose, after threatening to kick Sparx out for the nth time, relented and let him stay. We talked, and talked Saturday night. After having to absolutely drag him to dinner. This after finally giving The_Rose her cell phone back. Which became a topic of conversation during our talk. He absolutely refused to tell us that he had been using the cell phone. But I had already found the cell phone charger that he grabbed up a few weeks ago, and then claimed he couldn't find. Locked up all three phone chargers (two wall chargers, from our two phones, and the 12 volt charger that we used in which ever car) where he couldn't find them, which gave the phone about three days max. That's without using it! My phone does much better, I don't know why. It's not the battery, as I've already swapped them. The_Rose had canceled the phone Friday. When we finally got the phone back, the battery was dead. Today I got it charging, and decided to see what calls had been received and dialed. The only calls received had been from home and my cell, trying to locate it. I found four phone calls made with it, the last two (maybe three) were made Friday, before it got cut off. One of them were to The_Rose's ex, so I guess he called his dad for some reason. The other calls I don't recognize, but I think one of them is his girlfriend's new cell phone number.
Still, Sparx is lying. Lying badly. I'm going to write down those numbers and figure out one way who they belong to. It just infuriates me that he's been totally caught lying, and he won't admit it!
We finally got our bedroom under control. I had already moved into my "new" chest-of-drawers, and this weekend, The_Rose got herself moved into her "new" dresser, and moved my original chest-of-drawers from Ohio in, using for a TV stand, and junk drawers, and more drawers (the dresser is smaller than her old chest-of-drawers). We also got rid of the junk that was cluttering up the room, clothes that belong to children, goodwill stuff, stuff that (still!) needs to be taken to the cleaners. Moved my mom's rocking chair into the corner. I even got a basket to help organize my underwear drawer. Got a nice blue basket to throw all my regular underwear in. I need to get another one to through all the hankerchefs that I have in, and then my boxer shorts (used mainly for pajamas for me) will be nicely separated from everything else.
Got some other stuff moved around as well, from one kid's room to another.
Totally forgot that today was the little ones' birthday. Which The_Rose and I managed to completely forget about... Oh well. We'll be taking them out to dinner tonight. Don't really have a clue as to where yet, but we've already heard,
not Longhorn! Although I'm sure they wouldn't turn down a steak, just not there. And after screaming for Chinese, last week, they don't want it now. Weird children.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/10/2004 04:28:00 PM
0 comments
Sunday, May 9
Interesting...
Blogger has just updated their site, and the new edit blog form works a lot better with Mozilla. Fixing that bug. I'm not sure that I like it, but oh well, it's what I have to work with now.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/09/2004 10:13:00 PM
0 comments
Things that I thought we were supposed to have by now...
I was thinking this morning about how I still haven't seen a commercial chiller (think microwave, but in reverse), so I can stick my hot cup of tea in it, and get it chilled down without watering it down with ice. And that got to me thinking about some other things that we were supposed to have by now as well. A microwave for the bathroom. Don't laugh, it's for sterilizing your toothbrush. It probably wouldn't be even close to the cost of a microwave oven. Then again, maybe they couldn't get the cost down.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/09/2004 10:52:00 AM
0 comments
Thursday, May 6
Stuff
Blah. What a bad day today was. I had a 2.5 hour nap this afternoon. Get to bed late, get up early to herd the animals. Doing that enough times, and I guess I've lost enough sleep.
I could swear that The_Rose wasn't paying a damn bit of attention to what I was saying today. Maybe she was, but I certainly couldn't tell. I wasn't exactly being nice today either. I think we need a vacation.
Oh, the air conditioner clutch evidently siezed on my car today. Sigh. Not good.
Permanent link posted by bytehead @ 5/06/2004 07:54:00 PM
0 comments
I'm now down to fifth place when I used to be #1.
Blogger's about me: Your usual fat computer geek. Currently looking for work in the Jacksonville area and in Columbus. Network Administrator for hire!
♥ Sparx
♥ wookiemp164 aka Garfield116(x)
